Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Redlands, joined other members of Congress in signing a letter that calls for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to stop detaining immigrant families.

The letter, dated July 31, comes in light of the U.S. District Court’s ruling that found the government failed to honor a 1997 settlement agreement that governs how and when immigrant children can be detained.

It also says the government should release immigrant children from secure family detention facilities.

The letter, co-signed by 178 members of Congress, urges the government to take the necessary steps to get in line with the settlement agreement.

“It is long past time to end family detention,” the letter reads.

In a Aug. 4 news release statement, Aguilar said: “The women and children held in these detention centers are from nations ravaged by war, poverty, and disease—we cannot subject an already susceptible population to more hardship and strife.”

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